Cinnamon Rolls – cinnabons are a copycat recipe, and it’s the closest you’ll get to the real thing. Super easy to make.
Ingredients
- 1 cup of warm milk
- 10 g sachet instant yeast
- 1/2 cup castor sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 egg
- 1/3 cup canola or vegetable oil
- 4 cups cake flour
Filling
- 1/3 cup softened butter
- 1 cup packed light brown sugar ( I used muscovado )
- 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
Icing
- 1/4 cup cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1/4 cup softened butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 1/4 cups icing sugar
Method
- In a measuring cup, stir warm milk, yeast, and 1 tablespoon of the castor sugar together to dissolve.
- Stir and proof for 5 minutes.
- Into the bowl of a stand mixer, measure out 4 cups of flour, the remaining sugar, and salt.
- Once the yeast mixture looks bubbly pour into a stand mixer with dry ingredients.
- Start to stir on low. Add in the egg and the oil.
- Scrape the edges of the bowl to stir flour evenly.
- Knead 5 mins on low.
- If the dough seems a bit sticky, stir in 2 tablespoons of flour at a time until it starts pulling away from the bowl.
- The dough should not be dry. Let dough rise covered in a warm place until double in size about 35 mins.
- Sprinkle counter with flour and roll dough to about an 18×24 rectangle.
- Spread softened butter over the dough, being sure to go right to the edges leaving a 1-inch strip untouched on one of the longer sides of the dough.
- Place the brown sugar and cinnamon mixture onto the middle of the dough and spread with your hands, creating an even layer over top of the butter, still leaving that 1-inch strip of dough untouched.
- Lightly press the sugar mixture into the butter using a rolling pin.
- Roll the dough up like a Swiss roll finishing with the plain dough on the bottom to seal the entire thing together.
- Cut off any uneven ends to even out the roll.
- Slice your rolls into 1 1/2 inch rounds and place them on the prepared pan.
- Cover with a tea towel and let rise again for 1 hour.
- They double up in size.
- Preheat the oven to 180 C.
- Line a rimmed baking tray with parchment paper then spray lightly with nonstick cooking spray. Bake for 20 mins.
Icing:
- While the buns are baking, whip cream cheese and butter together.
- Stir in vanilla, and lemon juice.
- Scrape sides and mix again.
- Pour in powdered sugar and stir slowly until it starts to incorporate.
- Then mix on high for 5 minutes or until frosting starts to lighten in color.
- Scrape sides and mix again briefly. Once rolls have been removed from the oven, frost using half the amount made.
- Then after they have cooled a few more minutes, frost again with the remaining frosting. The first frosting will melt down into the rolls and the second layer should stay firm.
Prepared, tried, and tested by Gail